Goodies Announcement

The new Beyond HTML Goodies book
is now available!

Go beyond the basics
and learn how the pros add and use dynamic HTML features and advanced
JavaScript techniques. Beyond HTML Goodies demonstrates dozens of new and
different features readers can add to their existing Web pages using HTML and
JavaScript. The book starts with simple text and image tips, such as adding a
clock to a Web page or causing text to appear when the mouse moves over an
image. It gradually builds to more complex tricks, including manipulating forms
or working with cookies behind the scenes. Throughout the book, readers enjoy
Joe's snappy style and "to the point" discussion of each "goody" in the book.

First off, you have to give me credit for courage! This is not a question that I
can address without upsetting one or another group of my readers! Beliefs in
which is the superior platform seem to be held stronger than many religious
beliefs. So, just in case you're in that one group, or in that other one, I
apologize in advance for everything I say that upsets you -- even though I know
that won't do any good!

I am, however, going to attempt to point out those few differences that can make
a difference, and at the same time, point out those things which are commonly
believed to be different, but actually aren't so different after all. I think
that in order to keep as many readers as calm as possible for as long as
possible, I'll start with those things that aren't so different.

Features. There are those who believe that ASP means you have to be on a Windows
platform. Nope! What used to be Chilisoft, now Sun Java System Active Server
Pages, provides ASP support on various Linux and Solaris platforms. Similarly,
PERL, PHP, MySQL and the like are all fully supportable on a Windows platform.

Direct support for email from a form is as easy on Unix/Linux as it is on
Windows. The same applies to database connectivity. FrontPage Extensions are
available for both OSs. None of these things need be a factor in your decision.

Stability. There's a notion among aficionados of one platform that their
favorite is more stable then the other. First off, stability is not so easy to
measure. It's a combination of many different factors, not the least of which is
security. Security is server systems is much more a factor of the quality of
administrative and security personnel and procedures than it is of the platform
deployed. Whether or not one is more secure than the other by its own nature is
the subject of an ongoing raging debate that looks to me like it will never end.
It's the equivalent of Ford vs Chrysler vs General Motors.

There are a few differences. For example, on Linux you can use CGI shell scripts
more easily than on Windows, though with PERL & PHP out there I'm not sure why
you would want to. Visual Basic, ASP and .NET are native to Windows although
there are various equivalents in various stages of development for the Linux
platform. IIS runs on Windows, Apache runs on either. Linux is usually
case-sensitive for directory and file names, Windows is not (this matters if you
develop on one and move to the other.)

If you need the features of IIS, VB, ASP or .Net, you should probably stick with
Windows. If you need to run UNIX shell scripts through the CGI, you should
probably stick with Linux. While cross platform support for these features may
be available, you will usually find life easier if you use them in their native
habitats.

That all being said, when looking for a hosting service provider, it's usually
better these days to worry about the quality of service the hosting company can
provide than to spend too much time concerned about the operating system. Take a
look at factors like connectivity speed and capacity, uptime guarantees,
technical support, price and the like, and worry about the operating system only
if you know you have to for something particular you want to do.

Q. I'm trying to set up an email form. How do I send form data to an
email address instead of a file? My email form just brings up outlook; how do I
get it to send email directly? When I get data to my email address it is in an
attachment with an ".att" extension -- what is this and how do I read it? How do
I get my email form data to be formatted as text instead of being full of stuff
like "1=on&2=on&3=Better+Management"?

A. To get rid of the .att extension (and formatting problems) add enctype="text/html
to the form tag like so:
<form action="mailto:somebody@somewhere.com" method="post" enctype="text/plain">
NOTE, HOWEVER:
Version 6 (and above) browsers do not support email forms (action="mailto:...
etc.) Instead, it is necessary to use CGI scripts (PERL, CGI Shell Scripts, PHP
etc.) Alternatively, if your server supports FrontPage extensions, there is a
"WebBot" in FrontPage that automatically handles sending form data to an email
address (as an option to, or in addition to saving it to a file.)

A. I have run into this before. The solution is to:
1. Add the following code immediately after RightNow = new Date(); in your
function:
newMonth = RightNow.getMonth() + 1;
2. Next change the line that returns the month to:
document.write("Today's date is " +newMonth+ "-")

Q. I would like to know the proper approach to run simultaneous
JavaScripts such as in the following scenario. I would like a "rain effect"
script (called from a .js file) over top my entire web page with underlying
rotating images scripts, sliding texts scripts, other animation scripts, etc.
i.e.. items that appear to be rained on. On top of the raining effect, I would
to place other JavaScripts (scripts within or outside of the page coding),
animated gifs, pictures, etc. that are "dry" i.e. ...kind of a layering wet/dry
scenario.

A. When running multiple scripts on one page you need to insure that the
different scripts do not use the same variable and/or function names. If they do
then you will have to change those that conflict. If you need to have multiple
scripts start when the page loads the best way I have found is to use
the onLoad event in the BODY tag to call both of them making sure you separate
them with a semicolon.
Like this:
<BODY onLoad="function_one();function_two()">

Q. Do you know of any commands that will not display the password as you
type it, or put in a series of asterisks, while still keeping the data so that
it can be compared to the values in a database?

Every week a site is selected for review. Each week,
reviews of the previous week's selected site are chosen for
publication on the HTML Goodies website.

The current week's selected site is published in Goodies To
Go and in the Peer Reviews section of the website.
Current contact email addresses for submitting your site and
for submitting reviews are published in Goodies To Go.

If you would like to have your site reviewed, sign up for
the Goodies To Go newsletter in the Navigation Bar on the
left side of this page.

Did you ever wish your newsletter was an easy two way communications medium?
Ploof! It now is!
If you would like to comment on the newsletter or expand/improve on something
you have seen in here, you can now send your input to:

We already receive a lot of email every day. This address will help us sort out
those relating specifically to this newsletter from all the rest. When you send
email to this address it may wind up being included in this section of the
newsletter, to be shared with your fellow readers.
Please don't send your questions to this address.
They should be sent to our mentors: see
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/

For those who are missing Peer reviews: we are once again
revising the Peer review program in the hopes of creating a
workable solution. The current plan is to move the new Peer
Review pages into place in the new year. All those who have
been selected for reviews in the past will be featured in
the new pages. The new method will make it much easier for
your peers to provide feedback and much easier for us to
handle the publication side of things. "Watch this space!"
It's coming soon!!

This script is a ASP.NET version of our classic hit counter.
I've implemented it as a custom user control in order to
make it easy to use on a large number of pages. It works in
much the same manner as our original sample and lets you
select whether you want the count displayed as text or
images. I've also added a new option to show no display at
all.

Kerberos authentication is the cornerstone of Windows
operating system authentication architecture. Web Services
Enhancements 2.0 (WSE 2.0) extends Kerberos support to
ASP.NET Web services. Chris Peiris explains the support for
this new feature in WSE 2.0.

After a war that had lasted 72 days and cost over a thousand lives
(236 British and 655 Argentinean) and more than two billion dollars,
Argentine commander Mario Menendez signed an "unnegotiated cease
fire" and 9800 Argentine troops put down their weapons, thereby
ending the Falkland Island War. On March 26 1982 dictator General
Leopoldo Galtieri launched an invasion of the Falkland Islands, then
(and still) a British territory, that had been planned by commander
of the Argentine Navy Admiral Jorge Anaya. Galtieri intended the
invasion to bolster popularity for his government. While it had the
desired effect in the very short term, the sound defeat of his
forces by much smaller British forces eventually led to the fall of
his dictatorship and the return of democracy to Argentina. The
outcome of the war also helped Margaret Thatcher to win a landslide
re-election.

Today was also the day that in: 1775 the United States Army
was founded; 1775 the Continental Congress adopted the Stars
& Stripes as the replacement for the Grand Union flag; 1834
Isaac Fischer of Vermont invented sandpaper; 1847 Bunson
invented the gas burner; John McTammany of Massachusetts invented
the player piano; 1935 the Chaco War between Bolivia &
Paraguay ended; 1942 Disney released "Bambi"; 1949 the
state of Vietnam was formed; 1951 the first commercial
computer, UNIVAC I, went into service at the US Census Bureau;
1953 Elvis Presley graduated from LC Humes High School in
Memphis Tennessee; 1954 President Eisenhower signed an order
adding the words "under God" to the US Pledge of Allegiance; 1965
John Lennon's 2nd book "A Spaniard in the Works" was published; 1985
Lebanese Shiite Moslem gunmen hijacked TWA 847 after its Athens'
takeoff;

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